


Winter wonderland

by Spaceprincealenko



Category: Mass Effect Trilogy
Genre: M/M, Post-War
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-23
Updated: 2020-12-23
Packaged: 2021-03-11 00:56:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 970
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28256541
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Spaceprincealenko/pseuds/Spaceprincealenko
Summary: Garrus has experienced most human holiday traditions but he's particularly interested in the art of making snowmen
Relationships: Kaidan Alenko/Garrus Vakarian
Kudos: 4





	Winter wonderland

Kaidan and Garrus sat cuddled up in front of the living room fireplace, an old Christmas vid playing on the screen in front of them. It had been snowing all day and originally being from a very warm planet, Garrus was less than accustomed to the cold "You've made a snowman before right Kaidan?"

"Every year as a kid."

Garrus looked out the window, fresh snow covered the entire neighborhood and he could see a couple houses already had snowmen in their yards "Could we make one?"

"Sure but will you be okay?" It's not like turians would die if they came in contact with snow but Garrus had complained quite a bit on Noveria. 

"If I have enough layers I should be fine." Garrus assured him, kissing his head before getting up, they had stocked up on winter clothing specifically tailored to turians before they came to Canada and he hoped it would be enough.

"If you say so…" Kaidan got up with him and while Kaidan only had to put on a coat and gloves Garrus had on at least two sweaters under his already rather heavy coat "Is that comfortable?" He couldn't imagine how it could be but it wouldn't be a very merry Christmas if he lost his husband to hypothermia.

"A bit tight in the arms but other than that not so bad." 

"Well if you get too cold," Kaidan took in Garrus's outfit "or hot we can come back inside."

"I'm sure it'll be fine Kai, don't worry." Oh he was going to worry, just maybe not out loud until Garrus gave him a reason to.  
Kaidan crouched down in the snow and Garrus mimicked the action across from him, since they started dating on the original Normandy they had both made an effort to understand each other's cultures. For Garrus that was mainly through holidays seeing as humans had so many of them, and he was fascinated by each new holiday tradition he got to experience.

Kaidan packed a bunch of snow tightly together for the base "Contrary to popular belief it's not just putting three snowballs on top of each other, you have to really pack the snow together so it doesn't come apart and fall over."

Garrus nodded and helped him build up the bottom half of their soon to be snowman, working with snow was a lot harder than he anticipated but Kaidan didn't seem to be struggling that much "You seem really accustomed to working with snow." 

"I grew up in Canada." Kaidan stated as he gathered up more snow "and the festival down at the park had a snowman competition my dad and I always participated in when I was a kid."

"So you have practice?"

Kaidan chuckled "Yeah, though I still haven't built one in years," The small smile on Kaidan's face was enough to make possibly freezing to death out in the snow worth it "but are you sure you're okay out here?"

Kai I told you I'm-" he was interrupted by a sneeze but quickly shook it off "I'm fine, I walked through a plague zone and made it out okay, a little snow isn't going to kill me."

"Just tell me if you get too cold." Kaidan said as he stepped back to examine their progress.

"Are you going to warm me up if I do?"

"If you're lucky." He said as he gathered up more snow for the top of the snowman, leaving Garrus crouched on the ground, blushing as he imagined all the ways Kaidan could warm him up and that was enough to make his temperature spike alone. 

"So what do we do after it's finished?" Garrus asked as he stood up, brushing the snow off himself.

"Decorate it." Kaidan answered.

"And after that?"

Kaidan shrugged "Nothing, it's a decoration."

"Ohhhh…" Garrus nodded "and that's why humans make these?"

"I suppose, cheaper than most lawn decorations anyhow." 

"So what do we decorate it with?"

"Well," he looked around the yard, eyes landing on a tree branch that had fallen to the ground, likely bogged down by ice from the previous storm. Kaidan jogged over to it, picking up the branch with a gloved hand and breaking it before jogging back over to him. "With these."

"Are these…" he took one of the pieces and glanced at the groups of snow people in the lawns of their neighbors, who all had similar decorations on theirs "supposed to be arms?"

Kaidan nodded, handing him the other piece "Here, why don't you put them on."

Garrus looked at the ice covered branches in his hand once more before carefully sticking them into the snowman.

"Perfect, now it needs a face." Kaidan used his fingers to poke in two eyes and draw a mouth, the snowman now smiling back at them.

Garrus started at it, his head tilted just a tad to the side "Think it's missing something?" Kaidan asked, watching his husband in amusement. To him these were all just normal activities and he couldn't help but find how curious Garrus had been about all these holiday traditions cute. 

Garrus unwrapped one of the scarfs around his neck and wrapped it around the snowman "Think it would win a competition?" Garrus asked as he turned to look at Kaidan.

Kaidan laughed "First place material for sure." 

Garrus wrapped his arm around Kaidan's waist pulling him to his side, Kaidan wrapping an arm around his back in return "I think I'm seeing the appeal of snow." He commented, earning a chuckle from Kaidan and Garrus looked at him out of the corner of his eye. Kaidan's tan skin tinged pink from the cold and the smile on his face made Garrus's heart swell and he couldn't help but smile too. Yeah, definitely worth freezing for.


End file.
